Approx 260 Mi East Of Resolution Island, November 1959November 1959

Insufficient Data

Summary

On November 13, 1959, two B-52 bomber pilots from the 99th Bomb Wing spotted a small, silver, round object while flying east of Resolution Island in the Canadian Arctic. The sighting occurred at 1205 (12:05 p.m.) local time. The aircraft were cruising at 34,000 feet on a heading of 260 degrees when the pilots spotted the object about 20 degrees to the right of the nose and 60 degrees above their altitude.

The pilots kept the object in view for one hour and twenty minutes. During this time, they made two navigational turns, first changing their heading to 330 degrees and then back to 260 degrees. When they made these course changes, the object disappeared from sight. The final position where they lost the object was approximately 58 degrees north, 61 degrees west. Weather conditions at the time were clear with unlimited visibility.

According to the case file, ground radar units at the location did not detect anything unusual during the sighting. The pilots identified the object as the planet Venus. An Air Force analysis noted that astronomical calculations confirmed Venus was in the position the pilots reported at that time and date. The file indicates the pilots themselves suspected the object might be a planet rather than something unknown.

The full case file, comprising 11 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.

Reported location

Approx 260 Mi East Of Resolution Island, November 1959

Date of incident

November 1959

State / country

? / XX

Page count

11 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 37

i PE A Mors 4A OA PRY FAERIE st 1 Tp Sp ’ —— a . —- . & BO RE sui Wis PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD : VOBATE RE ie [2 LOCATION 5 12. CONCLUSIONS ; i Approx 260 mi Bast of lA i 13 Nov 59 Resolution Island & Q Hd Balloon 3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF O3SERVATION J Posy Piieon HT) FER Le ETI SR CA 0 Ground-Visual 0 Ground-Radar H al 0 USE i ( emt L3/12152 PMR IEE (RR ER x1 AirVisual 0 Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircroft 5. PHOTOS 4. SOURCE BN Was Astronomical Venus 0 Yes : 0 Probably Astronomical LE LE Tr LL ER 0 Possibly Astronomical 7. LENCTM OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE [ce JIE 6) § 1 ME SE A A EE O Insufficient Dota for Evaluation 0 Unknown { ; RE OE LEE np ERE El ) «ROME Cr a RARE OUR BE 5 vo Ke ny ov ZR eS | 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS Swall, silver, rnd obj. Navigational turns | Astro plots indicate the planet Venus : Jcaused loss of ob). Pilots identified it as to be in the position rptd. the planet Venus. ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) ’ : Fl Seth SAE ee TELE SETTER Ss Re CTL 4 /